Virginia held a 5-2 lead at the half, but the Orange came back to tie the game, 8-8, with 13:18 remaining and took its first lead, 9-8, on a free position shot less than a minute later. Morgan Stephens (So., Olney, Md.) scored a goal for the Cavaliers to tie the game with 10:19 remaining, but Syracuse took a 10-9 lead with just under five minutes left to play.

The Cavaliers created an opportunity in the final minute with Courtney Swan (So., Vero Beach, Fla.) coming up with a ground ball after Syracuse turned the ball over deep in its offensive zone. Virginia got the ball down field with Casey Bocklet (So., South Salem, N.Y.) firing off a shot, but it was off target. Virginia had possession with 10 seconds left in the game, but Syracuse forced a turnover in the final seconds to hold on for the win.

"This was a game where I thought we controlled 90 percent of it, but it turns out we needed to control 95 percent," said Virginia head coach Julie Myers. "Syracuse was able to capitalize on some of our mistakes. They are a great team with great shooters and a lot of weapons. They all rose to the occasion and made their shots count when they needed them to."

Six different Cavaliers scored goals, including Stephens who logged a hat trick. Defender Megan Dunleavy (Sr., Fairfax Station, Va.) had four ground balls and a caused turnover. Goalkeeper Kim Kolarik (Sr., Riva, Md.) notched 10 saves.
Five minutes into the contest, Bocklet scored the first goal of the game, slicing through the defense and using a head bob to get free, popping in an unassisted goal.

Two minutes later, Caroline McTiernan (Sr., Garden City, N.Y.) took a feed from Ashlee Warner (Jr., Corning, N.Y.), cutting in toward the net for a goal to give Virginia a 2-0 lead with 22:47 remaining.

Dana Boyle (Jr., Londonderry, N.H.) scored Virginia's third goal after a scramble for a ground ball went all the way to midfield. Lauren Goerz (Jr., Danville, Ca.) finally corralled the ball, passed it up ahead to a streaking Boyle who was well ahead of the pack. Boyle slammed it in with 20:42 left in the half.

Syracuse had a great opportunity to score with 15 minutes left in the period. After getting the ball down field on a fast break, the Orange had a wide-open attacker in front of the crease with a one-on-one against Kolarik. The senior goalkeeper caught the hard shot, preserving the 3-0 lead.

Courtney Swan (So., Vero Beach, Fla.) picked up a ground ball, rushed in from the right side, slinging the ball into the net for an unassisted goal, giving the Cavaliers a 4-0 lead with just under ten minutes left in the first half.

Syracuse scored its first goal with 4:32 left in the first half. The Orange added their second on a free position shot with 3:37 remaining in the half.

After Dunleavy caused a turnover and came up with the ground ball in front of the Virginia crease, Boyle got the ball up ahead to Stephens, scoring with 58.2 seconds left in the half to send the Cavaliers into the break with a 5-2 advantage.

After Syracuse's Michelle Tumolo scored a goal with 24:28 left in the game, Stephens came charging in from the right side toward the Orange goal, finding net with 23:08 remaining. Twelve seconds later, Syracuse answered, making it a 6-4 game.

Warner muscled her way towards the net on attack for the Cavaliers. Her defender fell down, with Warner taking advantage to shoot and score with 20 minutes left in the game. Virginia won the ensuing draw and scored 12 seconds later with Caroline McTiernan (Sr., Garden City, N.Y.) finding Bocklet for the score.

Syracuse used back-to-back free position shot opportunities to tie the game and then take a 9-8 lead before Stephens scored her third goal with 10:19 left in the game to knot it at 9-9.

Syracuse's Kayla Traynor scored the go-ahead goal with 4:56 left in the game. The Orange won the ensuing face off and remained on attack until Swan came up with the ground ball with a minute left in the game.

"We put Courtney Swan in, an attacker, to try to get a little extra speed, fresher legs, and a good stick in there," Myers said. "With Courtney coming up with that ball with a minute left, we thought we were in pretty good shape. It is a lot of pressure for the attackers to get the ball down and be able to do their thing.

Casey Bocklet got a good shot off under a lot of pressure. It is disappointing to see that we had the ball with 10 seconds left and ended up not getting it to the middle and not getting one more final shot. I really thought we were going to tie it and go to overtime."

With the loss, Virginia falls to 2-1 on the season. Syracuse improves to 2-1.

The Cavaliers' first home game will be on Friday, March 1 when they host No. 4 Maryland at Klöckner Stadium. The Cavaliers close out the weekend hosing No. 10 Penn State on Sunday, March 3 at 1 p.m. Single-game tickets are on sale now.